Ice scraper for track motor cars



Jan. 11, 1938. J, HANSEN 2,105,416

ICE SCRAPER FOR TRACK MOTOR CARS Filed April 14, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor Attorneys Jan. 11, 1938. J HANSEN 2,105,416

' ICE SCRAPER FOR TRACK MOTOR CARS Filed April 14, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvem'or Afinrneys Patented Jan. 11, 1938 PATENT OFFICE ICE SCRAPER FOR TRACK MOTOR CARS Jack A. Hansen, Matanuska, Territory of Alaska Application April 14,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to what is believed to be a. new accessory attachable to railway track motor cars, the same being expressly constructed to effectively dislodge and scrape ice from the track rails to provide continuous and effective traction and to thereby promote safety to all'concerned.

In order .to provide a 7 more effective background illustrative of the need for an invention of this type, a brief rsum of present prevailing conditions is now given.

During fall and winter when temperatures drop to freezing and below, snow, ice and frost are the main obstacles a railroad motor car has to contend with. .This is especially the case in Alaska, Canada, and in colder sections of the States. The snow alone is not so difficult, as it can easily be brushed off the rail by the ordinary snow flangers, of which there are several types,

all more or less successful. These fiangers are in most cases attached to car frame sides in front of the front wheels and are raised or lowered by various methods. A coating of ice underlying the snow and frozen to the rail is quite common, or the ordinary frost or a coating of ice alone on the railis a much more difficult proposition. The ordinary snow flangers will remove the loose snow, but do not have the least efiect on either the ice or frost. When a motor car comes in contact with the above mentioned condition, whether equipped with snow flangers or not, it is just a, case of take it off the track or push it home.

, A motor car operator may leave his station with weather and rails favorable, but before he arrives at his destination the weather may change or he may run into a section of the country where, due to atmospheric conditions, rails are covered with a heavy coating of frost or sleet immediately after a train has passed. It is with such conditions in mind, coupled with my own personal experiences in operating a motor car, that I have, after five years of experimenting, etc., arrived-at what I know to be a practical and fool-proof ice scraper.

In reducing to practice the principles of the present inventive conception, I have found it expedient and practicable toadopt a structure comprising a pair of attachments applicable to opposite sides ofthe truck of the track car, these attachments cooperating with and trailing the front wheels to insure constant contact with the ball or head ofthe rails, whereby to insure reliable results, the attachments'being such that the spring pressed scraping blades are susceptible oflbeing raised or lowered as conditions require 1937, Serial No. 136,911

and to thereby enable the operator of the car to have definite control of said devices at all times.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the accompanying illustrative drawings and following detailed description thereof.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of what may be called a conventional track motor car, showing one of the attachments applied thereto and occupying its ready-to-use operating position.

Figure 2 is a view of the attachment per se with parts in section and elevation.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the attaching plate.

Figure l is a cross-section on a slightly enlarged scale, the section being on the line'4-4 of Figure 2.

In the drawings in Figure 1, the'conventional track motor car is denoted by the letter A and includes a platform B, front wheels C, and rear wheels D. The adapter of attaching plate, which is of appropriate metal, is indicated by'the numeral 5, and this is of suitable proportions and is bolted or otherwise secured as at 6 to supporting blocks or the like 1 provided on the central marginal portion of the platform or frame B. As will be hereinafter seen, when the attachment proper is removed, this plate constitutes a so-called running board.

The numeral 8 designates generally an adapter fixture having a substantially triangular upper portion with the feature 9 thereof bolted as at ID to the attaching plate 5. The feature H constitutes a diagonal brace and joins with the depending leg IZ, the latter feature constituting a shield and riding in close proximity behind the front wheel C. This feature l2 terminates in spaced relation above the ball or head of the track or rail, as is evident. At this-particular point it is provided with suitable guides I3 and M to accommodate the spring pressed slidably mounted scraping blade l5. This blade is of appropriate'tempered steel and has its effective working end properly sharpened, if so desired.

On its central and back portion it is provided with an integral screw-threaded nut IE to accommodate the screw-threaded end I! of the plunger rod l8. The rod l8 extends up through i a guide collar I9 on the under side of the at taching plate 5. There is a collar on top of the plate through and beyond which the rod extends. This extending portion of the: rod is provided with an appropriate hand-grip 2| and justable nut connectionbetween the rod l8 aridthe nut It to force the slidable icescraping bladev I into contact with the rail." By lifting up 'on' the plunger rod and retracting'l'the; blade, the handle 2| can be turned so as to lodge the detent pin 22 in the seat or keeper notch2ilf'At"this time the pins are at right angles to thes'slotsi23;

asis obvious, thus maintaining v Y e the blade I 5 temp'orarilyjcleai'*ofthelrail; f'fIn'pra'cticeit'isobvious that tw'oojf thesefde vices are used, that is; on opposite sides} of the platform B, and they sare'located 'in the position shown in"Figur e I'S'O'that the guard 1'2 and blade I 5 occupy the desired incliningshavingre' 4 iiotor canmay be absolutely stalled, due to ice" or frost, and by lowering scrapers l5 it will in a short distance attain 60 encentst ,19iper w i {of i no speedl- These scrapers. (the complete attachments) are bolted on the side of the motor car frame just backofthefrontwheels and in front of the rear wheels. The top'plateof the assembly caribe ur e as, arenntne t un id- All n :carsshould, as a matter :Of safety, be provided with a runningboard of some sort, as practically ,allmotor cars have their driveonthe rear 'axle,

tiiel sm W e l raxl m r l turning ame 43 th st e n e dtrac i a and: eqm 'ene ra t q s he rdr Wh el nitarel ns e emi frost loosen it a d, i l h y iqa i stqi mrle el emov @1 n w an from the raiI--a nd; thereby give the rear The assemblyis so attached.andllocated'on the tmotorncar as to not interfere inany way withthe an being vtaken off/the track by -"turntable V or -Qtherwise, as the scraperv when in use is incon- 50 stant contact with snow} and'ice and does not be- 1 come heated, but retains its case hardened temper regardless of how hard it is forced'onto therail. The-cutting plate is reversible, that is, it can betaken oh and theopposite end used. v, ,A Sl v 5 r pieceioftapedpipe (no t shownlnear the end ;,o f;;the boltacts asaxsafety shoulder ,and-pree i vents j cutting plate ;fr,om-bein8- forced, into open trail jointsv by isipring tension; This also; has the ,same effect in passing overgfrogs, or switches.

e'Thei threaded enga ementjof the lower end 'ofthe madeto cutting plate by turningthe handle, on

, top ofithe assembly; 1-; 1 j Ifiiadditional pressure is needed; to}. :force ice off ithB arail 'the: sleeve or.:.piecej..of;. pipelnot' 3 shown) can be slippedjover the' bolt on either @p'ending from Saidpmte, said fixture including; a

-rod lain thenut I6 permits adjustments to; be

- end of lthegtension spring,-this naturally short- :ening the spring while the cutting plates are down, they merely bend where the adjusting nut has been welded on. The temper at this point on the plate is usually taken out of the plate in welding the adjusting nut on. However, as a rule, the scraping sound made by the scrapers is usually suflicient warning to the operator to raise them before continuing.

Thecutting plate also removes grease or any other oily substance, which imigh't interfere with the-braking powerof trains. In instances where wrecks have taken place, and in the re-railing or: equipment, wheel flanges and re-railing frogs are-loiledgto aid in getting them back on the track again. "The oil in this way is transmitted to the railsand of course-should be removed The cutting 'plate forces all this grime off the rail into thefi'rst 'op en rail joint and leaves the rail in cleaniconditio-n. If it is desired to remove the lower portionoiv the assembly duringthesummer season,1this"can'be detachedq Therejis practically nothing in the assembly to wear' outi The scrapers will, of course, in time,

show, some wear, but they can be easily and cheaply replacedi V p i It i'sfthought that the description taken inconnection with 'the 'drawings will; enable aclear understanding of the invention to be had: There'- fore, a more lengthy description is thought unnecessary. I e t 7 While the preferred embodiment 'of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that minor changes coming within the field of invention claimed mayberesortedto if desired;

ll In a structural assemblage of the class described; in' combination, a track-type motor car comprising a platform having" front and rear track engaging wheels, ice scraping devices on opposite, sides ofthe platform adapted tocontact the 'track' within the vicinity of the front wheelsf'sa'id devices each including spring pressed scraping blades, andTshiel'dingl'guards in fadvan'ce'offthe scraping blades; and guides for" the "bladeson said guards for positioning the scraping blades in'inclined contact with the rails adjacent the perimeters of the front wheels. 7 2. Ina structure of the class described, in com-, -bination, a track motor car including a wheel" supported platform, an ice scrapingdevice com- ,prising an attaching plate secured'to said platf form, a forwardly and downwardly inclined guard T 'member depending from said attaching plate within the vicinity of the adjacent front wheel and adapted to terminate in spaced relation 1 aboveth'eball of the rail, a spring pressed scraping blade slidably mounted on-said guard and projecta ble beyond the lowerend of the guard for contacting the rail and manual adjusting means fortheblade.

.3. An attachment of the classde'scribed comon one side of the platformof-a. track motor; 'car, a fixture -detachably fastened to and deand increasing thev pressure ontheiaiLLan; 9 r i i i1. 70 1 In 'c'ase. the :motorcanis equipped with; the 5 ordinarypbrakefshoe andwtOggIe-beam, itwill be necessary-to put an -,off 'set;in the toggle beam in 7 order to attach the ass'emblyin at p onerinlac ,Otherthan this, the assemblyscanfbeginstalledron any motor car. Should the car be backed up prising an attaching plate adapted to bemounted forwardly-and downwardly ineline'df bar 'consti said rod 5 being; screw-threaded and adjustably connected twit'hl' said nut; and acoil spring rounding the rod and bearing at one end against the nut to maintain the blade in yieldable scraping contact with a rail.

4. An attachment of the class described comprising a horizontally disposable attaching plate connectible with the platform of a track car, a bracket detachably connected with said plate and depending therefrom and including a forwardly and downwardly inclined bar member including a mounting and guard, a scraping blade slidably mounted on said guard and located on the rear side thereof, a plunger rod adjustably connected at its lower end with said scraping blade, said rod being located in parallelism behind the guard, said attaching plate being provided with guide collars, said rod projecting through and above the guide collars, said rod having an operating handle at its upper end, a coil spring surrounding the rod and operable to project the blade downwardly into contact with the rail, said upper collar being provided with side slots, and said rod having detent pins releasably cooperable with said slots.

JACK A. HANSEN. 

